MY LIFE IN A ROCK SONG

By Elliott Murphy

Amazing, to think that 50 years ago Rock Songs didn't even exist and now they are everywhere from film soundtracks to TV publicity and, of course, all over the radio. Songs are truly anonymous things, they are not heroes or legends or stars in themselves but they are the foundation Rock legends are built upon. Elvis Presley, who barely wrote a song his whole life, rose to fame and glory on the backs of songs mostly written by such unknown composers as Otis Blackwell. But when we hear "Don't Be Cruel" we only think of Elvis the King because just by singing it he made the song his. And then the magic part is that just by listening we make those songs ours - they become the soundtrack of the film of each of our own little lives.

Most good songs tell a story and allow us to put ourselves right inside that story. When I hear Mick Jagger sing "I can't get no satisfaction..." its me who is not satisfied and when Bob Dylan asks "How does it feel? To be on your own like a Rolling Stone..." again its me who knows exactly what that lonesome feeling is. It's the immediate sense of transference from writer to singer to listener that is the magic of rock songs. With the really great songs one size fits all and even a title such as Kurt Cobain's "Smells like Teen Spirit" can put a whole story right in our head. As Bruce Springsteen once said: "The songs know more about me then I know about the songs."

I believe that the longevity of Rock 'n Roll is due more to the great songs - the melodies, rhythm and words - that rock 'n roll has produced these past 50 years then anything else. Its rock songs that made both music critics and the public start taking our music seriously. The fact that early rock performers were so closely identified with the songs they sang brought about an almost genetic mutation among the next generation of rock performers and quickly enough artists such as Dylan, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones began writing for themselves. This was the "Big Bang" in the history of the Rock 'n Roll Universe because this was the moment when Rock really became Art and therefore deserved as much respect as any other art form. Future artists such as Jimi Hendrix, Lou Reed, Joni Mitchell, Bruce Springsteen, Tracy Chapman and so many others proved this over and over again. This was music that was gonna last because the emotional commitment of the songwriters who wrote the truly great songs was on a par with Mozart and Beethoven... and I'm not kidding.

The first rock song that drove me absolutely crazy was "Runaround Sue" by Dion and the Belmonts in the early 60's. It was a New York doo-wop song and I couldn't get it out of my head. In fact, after I bought the record I recorded it over and over on my father's little tape recorder so I could listen to it continuously. That song changed my life in a positive way because it gave me something to believe in. Now, all these years later, I don't write songs to make money or to be a star - I write rock songs because they changed my life, made me who I am and I'm just trying to keep the circle going, do my part, to change somebody else's life somewhere down the line. If you write rock songs thats your job...